I have this blog as a place to share my creative self -- be it card making, music playing, scrapbooking, altered art, home decor, or whatever direction my art takes me. My dogs are always a part of my home life, so they have to be a part of my blog, too.

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Friends with Flair viewers, I apologize. That entry is 2 down now. Please scroll to find it. There's Unity stamps in the next entry, too, though!

I never was very good at following the rules! Once I started linking my projects on the "those that are left behind" blog hop on cropchocolate.com, I saw that one project can only be entered in 3 challenges. Darn! And I was on such a roll with that patriotic card. But never fear, I'll just whip out another one! This card will be entered in 3 and only 3 challenges. And they are:

Friends with Flair peeps, there are projects in the next post for you to see also. Please scroll down!

I've cranked out 2 projects in a very short period of time for a bunch of challenges over on Cropchocolate.com. I'm going to enter these 2 projects many different ways. First, I'll show you what I've made since leaving work at 4pm (it's now 5:45):

I'm going to enter the card in the following challenges:

Create a project using black or dark background with 3 different patterns & a ribbon. This is the challenge of the week on cropchocolate.com. I started with an Outdoor Denim card base (Close to my Heart), used 3 different papers from the MME American Made paper pack, and used ribbon and homemade baker's twine for the pinwheel stem.

Pinwheels remind me a spring, so it fits Clayton528's requirments. It took me less than 30 minutes, I made my own baker's twine using 2 types of embroidery thread wound together, I used the American Flag as inspiration, I used a journal card to stamp my sentiment on, then added some bling, and threw in a pinwheel for Nina. And, with the Celebrate sentiment, I'm using it as a July 4 card.

I'm also entering this card in the newest Unity Chick Challenge. I used this sketch as my inspiration:

I used a Unity Happy Everything stamp set for the "Celebrate" sentiment, and the star is from a Unity grab bag I just got in my garage sale order.

Happy Canada Day and Independence Day, my Canadian and American friends. There' ll be a lot of celebrating going on this upcoming week. Enjoy the summer celebrations.

I've read on many Friends With Flair blogs that Washi tape can be found at Target, and for a reasonable price. The nearest Target to me is 50 miles away, but I got there last weekend. Woohoo! I got myself some fun tape. And, on the way out, I found the perfect basket to store my new tape in. So, I had to play with it. I have a card and my newly decorated basket to show you this week, my FWF peeps, made with my newly acquired washi tape.

The stamped image is from Unity's Stamp of the Week. I colored it with watercolor pencils and a water brush.

I have another card, too. This one I made for a Scrapbook Steals Monday Card challenge, and Operation Write Home card drive. I used a Unity stamp for the sentiment, Spellbinders dies for the butterflies, MME So Sophie paper, and a new border punch.

Monday, June 25, 2012

I just got this stamp set in the mail today, from Ippity Chick Angie Reece (thanks, Angie!). They were my prize for winning a Chick Challenge. And, I had to get them inky. It so happens that the theme of the stamps fits in perfectly with this week's sketch, so sometimes life works out so well! Here's my card for the current Chick Challenge:

I was working from this sketch:

I used Echo Park Sweet Day 6x6 papers, some Tim Holtz distress inks, the Ippity stamp set "How you doin'" and some bling from CTMH. I hope you like my take on things.

Friday, June 22, 2012

I have a couple of pictures and a story I want to share with my Unity peeps before I show you my projects for the week. I am the activity director in a nursing home. I'm always looking for ways to get kids into the nursing home to interact with residents, and looking for successful intergenerational projects for the 2 age groups to work on. These pictures are of 11 elementary summer school students and about 8 nursing home residents making greeting cards for Operation Write Home on Wednesday morning. We were able to make over 40 cards in about 1 1/2 hours of card making. We had a blast!

And, here's a couple of cards I made last weekend. It was a rainy Saturday, so I got to play with my new Unity kit of the month (the hexagon border). I also used 2 Ippity kits.

I colored this card using TH distress inks and a paint brush.

This flower was colored using my 4 Copic markers. I tried some shading for the 1st time, and used my gray marker to chane the green on parts of the stem and flowers. I still have Copic fever. I've been researching the darn things every evening, trying to find the best deal, and trying to find info on the best started colors. I got some helpful hints last week (thanks so much!) if anyone else has advise, I'd love to hear from you. Where do you buy your markers? Did you start with a set or did you build your own? Who's recommendations did you go with if you built your own? Any help is appreciated! Thanks for looking at my pix and reading my long post!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

I've got another card to share for challenges on the Unity and Ippity websites. I used this week's Chick Challenge sketch to make my card:

And here's what I did --

I used the June kit of the month, inking up the hexagon stamp to create the "flower". I colored the flower with distress inks and a paint brush, then added the felt for a stem and leaves. The sentiment is from the May kit of the month.﻿

Friday, June 15, 2012

It's Friday, it's Friday! Time for Friends with Flair! I promised to have a card that I was happier to show to everyone this week, so I took a little more time with this one, and made lots of layers. I used the sketch from this month's Kit of the Month sketch challenge, which looks like this:

This was a really fun sketch to work with. It seemed like there were many possibilities, and many ways I could have gone with the sketch. This is what I did with it:

And here's a closeup of the stamped image.

I used October Afternoon Sidewalks papers, Lawn Fawn trimmings, a button from my stash, Memento and Close To My Heart inks, and the April 2011 Kit of the Month. I'm going to enter this in the June Kit of the Month challenge, also.

I have a card in the previous post where I used Copic markers for the first time -- all 4 of them in my collection. I'm looking for any info I can find about Copics, and I know many of you use them. I would love it if you would leave me anything you feel is important in my comments section -- where you buy them, paper to use with them, ink to use, how you know which markers to buy, all that good stuff. I would SO appreciate it!!!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

I made this card on a hot Sunday afternoon, sitting in my cool, cool basement. I almost needed to put a sweatshirt on, even though it's 91 degrees in Northwest Wisconsin this afternoon. I'm going to enter it in the Ippity Challenge -- using the color red, and in the Chick Challenge. The Chick Challenge uses this sketch:

I gotta tell ya, I struggled with this one. There just didn't seem to be much you could do with it, besides a few flowers and a sentiment. So, I made a few flowers and stamped a sentiment!

I have 4 Copic sketch markers (yes, 4!) that I recently got in a grab bag. I had never broken them out before, because really, what do you do with 4 markers that don't blend well together? Well, you make flowers and flower pots, of course. So, I am no longer a Copic virgin. The markers have been initiated.

I used stamps from a grab bag I won from Friends With Flair (thanks, Unity!) and the Aug. 2011 Kit of the Month. Tulip cardstock is CTMH. The patterned papers, though hard to see in this picture, are Studio Calico Classic Calico 6x6 pad. The flowers and pots were stamped in Memento ink before I used the copic markers, as was the sentiment.

Friday, June 8, 2012

I'm really not happy with the card I'm showing on this week's Friends With Flair, but I've been participating every Friday since I discovered this great hop, and I don't want to break my streak! I really like the 2 cards in the post below this one, so if you're so inclined, check out those 2 cards, and judge me on those, not this one!

First, though, I have to share one of my favorite pictures of my Golden Retriever, Sammy. He is 7 years old today. And yes, he's jumping with joy. He jumps over my head all the time, especially when it's SUPPER time!

And, a little background on today's card. I got a Silhouette Cameo a week or so ago, but have hardly found time to play with it. Tuesday evening, I turned it on for the second time, found a 12x12 sheet of chevrons, and figured out how to shrink it to card size, edit out what I didn't want, then cut them. I was very proud of myself, LOL. Then, I put them on this card, and needed to figure out what to do with the rest of it. I wanted to use something from my new Unity Kit of the Month, and this image fit the space I had. Well, I tried this, and I tried that, and nothing pleased me. After another evening and playing with the stamped image, I gave up, and stuck this on, calling it done. I promise next week's will be more visually pleasing!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

I'm posting 2 cards this evening. The first one is for the current Ippity Chick Challenge, and I'm submitting it just under the wire -- only hours to spare. The second card is for the challenge that just started today on CropChocolate.com. We are to use both masculine and feminine embellishments, along with a 3D item.

Here's the sketch I used on the Ippity Chick Challenge:

And, here's what I did with the sketch:

Don't you just love those fat bumblebees? They make me smile!

And here's my masculine/feminine card for the cropchocolate challenge:

I made two of these. They both say "Happy Father's Day" inside, and will go to both of our Dads. I'm considering the rhinestones to be the feminine touch to this card, and the 3D element.

Friday, June 1, 2012

I've had such a creative week! I've been cranking out design team projects, birthday card swap projects, I made a layout last evening, and I'm working on an altered book for a co-worker who is leaving after 9 years of working together. I have until Monday to get her book done, so I hope the creative juices keep flowing. I have several projects to share with my faithful Friday readers. I hope you enjoy them. I sure had fun creating them!

This butterfly card was sent to a very special young lady who is graduating from high school this year. She was our neighbor for many years, until her family moved about 2 hours away. I've enjoyed watching her grow into a beautiful young woman. The sentiment is a Unity Itty Bitty called, "Dream Big."

Several weeks ago, I wrote about being excited about getting my new Harley, and was asked, "where are the pictures?". So, last evening, I whipped up this layout. The top picture was taken by my husband just before the bike and I left the shop. The second picture was taken on our first stop, after about 30 miles of riding my new baby. I haven't had a chance to ride in a couple weeks now, so come Saturday morning, "fire up the engine, honey, we're going for a ride." The quote is from a Unity stamp set, "Travel Notes". I entered this layout in a contest at CropChocolate.com. We were to do some spraying, misting, or inking. I used some Studio Calico Mister Hueys.

And, this card is a repeat from a post earlier this week. It uses the April Unity kit of the month. Inside, I stamped a "happy birthday" sentiment. Hope to be at the party again next week!